Aaron Hernandez was gay and endured an emotionally taxing struggle with his sexuality that could help explain his violent behavior, according to multiple people close to the deceased former Patriots tight end.

This bombshell speculation is revealed in a new Oxygen documentary called "Aaron Hernandez Uncovered," TMZ Sports reports. The two-part T.V. movie includes interviews with Hernandez's ex-girlfriends, members of his legal team and close friends. It airs Saturday and Sunday.

Advertisement

"This man clearly was gay," said George Leontire, an openly gay member of Hernandez's defense team. "(He) acknowledged it. Acknowledged the immense pain that it caused him."

Leontire says he spoke with Hernandez about his sexuality and got the immensely troubled man to open up about those demons.

Aaron Hernandez, who was reportedly haunted by his gay secret, per TMZ, killed himself in his prison cell. (Stephan Savoia/AP)

"I think that he also came out of a culture that was so negative about gay people that he exhibited some self-hatred," Leontire said.

Alyssa Anderson, Hernandez's college girlfriend, claims she discovered Hernandez was dating a man while they were both students at the University of Florida. Anderson says Hernandez initially denied it but later "cryptically acknowledged" this fact.

Hernandez, who was convicted of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013 and committed suicide in his prison cell in 2017, had a daughter with his fiancee Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez.